Happy Halloween!
Twenty years ago, a professor of mine asked a question in class that continues to revisit me at Halloween. "What is the most Christian thing to do at Halloween?"
The responses from the class varied. After all, it was a Bible College. Some answered, "We need to separate ourselves from the culture and have nothing to do with it." Other students had a slightly more moderate response along the lines of, "well, we should provide people with a happier alternative and invite people into our churches." This usually means opening up the church and creating a program for children to dress like Shepherds, wise men, or angels. Our professor then asked us to think more critically about our responses and the question of Halloween itself. "What's really going on when people celebrate on October 31st? What's the value of Halloween for our culture? Is the culture really celebrating witchcraft and Satan? Or is Halloween more about having fun and visiting our neighborhood with family and friends?"
I'm glad he followed up with that question because whether all of us were ready to admit it then, the value of Halloween is the latter. Halloween is an opportunity that comes once a year to have some fun and connect with our neighborhoods with family and friends. I think the most Christian thing we can do is connect with our communities and take the kids out for a walk and gather some candy. Or, we can keep the lights on and hand out candy to our neighbors!
Our professor was trying to point out that there are no real gains by responding with fight or flight to things in our culture that we don't necessarily understand. We could be talking about Halloween, but it could be almost anything Christians choose to engage in a "culture war." What is culture? Culture is a way of living and doing things unique to a group of people. Cultures vary, and none of them are perfect, including our own. We should join in when there is a shared value, like fun and community. When we see something we don't understand, it's an opportunity to take a step back and ask questions about our assumptions before reaching a judgment. We're talking about Halloween today, but in a month, some Christians will be talking about a non-existent war known as "The War on Christmas." Culture has something to teach us; more often than not, it can teach us that God is already at work in our communities, turning on the lights. We should join him.
If you're a person of faith, I'm not here to tell you what to do or believe. But as for me and my house, we shall go out and gather some candy on Halloween. Get out there and have some fun!
P.S: Harry Potter is awesome! Just putting that out there.